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Ch. 11 & 12

Ch. 11

During the Depression of the 1930′s, graphic designers were hired by the government to create posters for the public that advertised programs for citizens to follow if they wanted to get through the Depression as financially, physically, and emotionally stable as possible. And when the Second World War began immediately afterwards for the first half of the 1940′s, those same posters were now being used as propaganda to win the populace’s support for continuing to fight the war for as long as it took until the United States and its Allies won against the Axis Powers. These propaganda posters made use of catchy slogans and striking visual images to catch the viewer’s eye and sympathize with the message it was intending to come across.

Photojournalism and documentary

Documentary photography became a powerful tool for political and social commentary in the 1930s. Documentary photos established direct engagement with the viewer, as it was an imagery of fact. Perception of realism that a photograph conveys gave birth to the profession of photojournalism. Public attitudes toward photos were conditioned by the captions and framing of the images. Cameras also became more portable and print technology for photographic reproduction (via offset printing) improved and became more affordable. As a result, better records of things were kept, and mainstream presses (magazines) took off.

Commercial and Technical use of Information Design

in the 1940s and 1950s computers changed the medium in which we viewed information and eventually how we displayed it. The computers processed large amounts of data, but charts, graphs, and maps helped to actually comprehend that data. 

We see the merge of Bauhuas aesthetics and the Swiss international style

Imagery of science and technology, lab equipment ect… began to become standardized

Design Process

Information analysis influenced graphic design and it all went hand in hand. Imagery of paths, movements, and transitions came from the electronic industry. Statistics and data began to gain authority because it was necessary to daily life especially with the introduction of computers.

Aesthetics were highly rational

Simplification

Systematic

Technical

Ch. 12

Image and Identity Systems

In the 1950s graphic design really entered this new realm of branding. Companies were becoming corporations and they wanted to be easily identified by simple symbols. Horizontal integration made it necessary for corporations to be easily identified. The identity was an integral part of the brand. Using a single image allowed for the complexity of the brand to be simplified.

The International Typographic style was a modern approach to graphic design that took inspiration from previous art movements such as Constructivism, De Stijl, and other European experimental movements. Developed in Switzerland in the 1950′s, it emphasized cleanliness, readability, asymmetrical grid layouts, sans-serif typefaces, and a combination of flash and ragged text on the left and right sides respectively.

Technology

At this point, graphic design was no longer confined to a static image. Television in America boomed in the 50s and 60s. New markets for graphic design opened in the film industry and in commercials involving animation. Motion designers took on sequence, engaging movement and timing as compositional features of design. Phototypesetting, using film strips and strobe lamps, offered lower costs and more flexibility than metal type. This was a newfound freedom because now they could be manipulated photographically or cut, pasted, and rephotographed. Metal type was starting to phase out.

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CH. 9- Innovation and Persuasion

Two artistic movements which helped to influence graphic design during the 1910′s-20′s were Futurism and Dada. Futurism emphasized the dynamic concepts of speed and youth, and was focused on technological marvels such as cars, airplanes, and industry. It was first started in Italy by Filippo Marinetti, whose unique brand of typography was often compiled into calligrammes, articles of text where the design and layout of the letters creates a visual image related to the meaning of the words, which more often were based on modern inventions of the era. By contrast, Dadaism was an avant-garde movement which emphasized the rejection of logic and reason in the face of the destructive events of World War I in favor of expressing nonsense, irrationality, and anti-capitalist protesting. The pioneer of the Dada movement was Marcel Duchamp, who used collages and abstract art to protest the postwar efforts of the time and of the rising power of the Nazis in Germany. He even attacked traditional regulated icons of art such as the Mona Lisa by simply painting a moustache over a reproduction to poke fun at how most art communities put such a drab painting up upon a pedestal.

From Experiment to Principles Another

The adoption of geometric abstraction and flat forms in graphic design arised in this period and went on to shape modern design. Constructivism in Russia was an artistic philosophy invented in 1913 by Vladimir Tatlin. This was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favor of art as a practice for social and revolutionary purposes, (which became more important in World War 1). Posters lobbying for a change or a call to action were very high in contrast with bold type arrangements. Constructivism bridged fine and applied art; and we see that with black and white photos being collaged with shapes and paths that have never been done before. It influenced major trends in other parts of Europe such as the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements.

Information graphic was a new form of public communication. During WWI posters were designed to familiarize the public with enemies’ planes and ships. Posters was usually a combination of schematic forms and photomontage to communicate visually. This was the best way to educate the public about enemy craft and military, for a lot of people are illiterate who couldn’t read. Graphic communication was became so powerful for it effects on public opinion. Artists and officials on all side of the political spectrum recognize the power of graphic communication on shaping public opinion. Their sophisticated conceptions and uses of symbolic language went far beyond literal depiction and communication designed to influent the political system by subtle, psychological means.

Institutionalizing Graphic Design

In the 1920s institutions began to be established to begin and synthesize art, culture, and technical knowledge for the application of design to the industry.

The Bauhaus of Germany became the most legendary of these institutions. The Weimar government was actually in support of creating a place where this was the subject of education. The Bauhaus really established design as a discipline and solidified its position in society. 

The definition of design began to take on a much broader meaning. It began to not only include art but everyday items that we use. The Bauhaus began to take avant-garde experimentation and injected it into graphics, architecture, and industrial design.

Avant-garde influences faced political disapproval, but it still made an everlasting impression that we feel until today.

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Ch. 7 & 8

Ch7 Mass Mediation (1850–1900s)

Changes in Print Technology

Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the Linotype machine in 1884, 400 years after the Gutenberg press. It was the epitome after smart industrial designing, as it made a huge leap forward in the speed and efficiency of printing. The typesetter would type on the 90-character keyboard and the machine would gather matrices (molds for the letters). The line of letters would be casted by hot metal into a slug. The matrices have their own unique keys to return to their original spot in the machine. This allowed much faster typesetting, composition, and production. What’s good about working with metal was that it could be melted and reformed over and over. The Linotype transformed the printing industry as more jobs were created and new molding techniques were made to print multiple copies of multiple pages. The Linotype machine was eventually replaced a century later by offset and computer printing.

Printed Mass Media

During the late 1890′s to early 1900′s, there came an increased demand for printed material in the market. Thanks to improvements in the printing process, more material could printed at a faster rate before, and distributed farther and wider across the world. During this time, printed media such as posters and commercial art became the dominant form of communication system to better advertise store products or events even in the face of rising developments such as the invention of commercial radio and electronic applications. Commercial art was more than just a means of advertising messages, it could also serve as a form of cultural production in shared images, customs, meanings, and aspirations across different countries.

Media Networks

Before the 1840s, the only way to transport messages was to have them moved physically. Communication depended on transportation. But this situation changed dramatically between 1840-1900, as electricity was introduced and messages could be received more instantly via telegraphy, telephones, and radios. Information now spread a lot faster and the distance really began to lose grip on the length of time it would take messages to be exchanged.

The telegraph had influence on newspapers by allowing journalism to begin as a profession as well as organizing newspapers and how/when they were distributed. Journalism had changed even more when photography was involved because it helped to portray the news that was being told.

Since graphic art grew, it became the medium in which companies got a hold of consumers to purchase their products.

Paper money

The most dramatic examples of graphic design orienting in and through symbolic value is paper money. This became a basic medium of exchange in the nineteenth century. It is also an example of printed materials came to function as a mean of doing daily business. Why people refer paper money over coins? The answer is all a matter of convenience. It is more economical in cost. Paper money can be printed very fast and materials to make it are cheap. It is weightless, easier for counting and carrying in wallets.

Ch8 Formations of the Modern Movements (1880–1910s)

Responses to Industrialism

Artists contributed heavily to mass culture towards the end of the 19th century. They adapted to the technical advances that was taking place, combining aesthetics (form and surface) with production methods (means and materials). Criticisms of labor practices and pollution from factories were brought to attention thanks to socialist outlets. One of the movements that spawned from this was The Arts and Crafts, rooted in the UK and went on to spread throughout Europe and America. It involved traditional craftsmanship using simple forms of decoration and advocated economic and social reform and was essentially anti-industrial. A lot of art movements were motivated by the rejection of the industrial revolution.

In the last decade of the 1800′s, one type of art movement that was developed was Jugendstil, based on a German art publication that focused on contemporary lifestyles of the time. Jugendstil was characterized by expressions of sensual freedom, signaled by female forms, floral and organic motifs, and suggestions of primal eroticism as a liberating force. Artists of this movement included Otto Eckmann and Georg Hirth. The General Electric logo also was developed from this movement, with emphasis on organic unity and geometric motifs.

Art Nouveau 

Art Nouveauis a style of art which is very popular between 1890 and 1910. Art Nouveau’ s goal mainly were anti-elitist.  This style was favored by middle-upper-class for it overly decorative look. The practitioners of Art Nouveau sough to revive good workmanship. Hand-draw lettering, simplified and patterned floral motif are Art Nouveau characteristic. It also is inspired by elegant curvy patterns and flowing, sinuous lines. The artist used organic tone for this style.

Decadence & Aestheticism

The art-for-art’s-sake agenda of British aestheticism was echoed in French Symbolism and a general stylistic decadence that cowered at the end of 19th c. In the 1890s artists expressed attitudes of bohemianism and autonomy, in which art was approached as a sphere separate from all other cultural activity. It really was a way to express that there were lifestyles beyond what was know, and that they didn’t have to be what was known.

Aestheticism turned its back on functionalism of all kinds. It was suggestive and took twist and turns that were up to the mind to figure out.

Independently published arts and literary magazines continued to be a vital cultural instrument in the 1890s and would persist as forums for radical innovation in early twentieth-century design.

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Ch. 6

The primary event which caused the evolution of graphic design was the Industrial Revolution, which involved the industrialization of all business practices and lasted from 1750 to 1850. As a result of new demand for commodities made during this period, advertisements were printed to promote the products and the designers were forced to come up with new types of graphic and typographic vocabularies to become more attractive than one another.

Illustrated newspapers became the norm which made the consumption of information more convenient. More importantly newspapers swayed public opinion on things. Illustrations provided better visual commentary. Illustration became a scene and artists were getting popular. Literacy rates in Europe and the US continued to rise too as more novels and books are being made for mass production. Children’s books were being made in color and illustrated bibles taught clearer lessons on faith. Society was affected by all these prints because these helped them learn, pass time, and grow. Mass media had become a cultural industry that drove styles and set consumption patterns.

People began to take advantage of this new attention to printed type as well as the impact it had on society. Notices became a piece in order to notify about a lost child, lost property, etc. Hierarchy was used in order to get certain information across quicker, and grab attention. Printers began to invest and change in the new direction of attracting clients and showcasing skill. Transportation of goods and people began to broaden the view of advertisement.

     Fine Art                          

Handmade, unique 

Respected and critically acclaimed 

Requires inborn talent 

                             VS

    Graphic Art 

The use of mediating machinery ( Ex: woodblock engraving was considered commercial  art not high art) 

Appreciated and acknowledged 

Tends to utilize acquired skill 

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Ch. 3 & 4

Ch,3 - Medieval Letterforms and Book Formats: 400 to 1450

During the Middle Ages, the most often used letterform styles were developed by monastery scribes, containing information about the history of their country’s cultures.

During this time, the codex book format began to replace the antiquated scroll as the primary format of writing platform, with its pages being made from animal skin-derived parchment or vellum. Before that, the scribes had more often used papyrus, which was proving too unpopular due to its brittle composition compared to the more flexible parchment.

At the same time overseas, the Chinese developed paper from plant matter compounds to serve as their primary writing platform, which ended up spreading to Europe due to the trade routes shared between both continents around the 9th century.

The monastery scholars held all the knowledge on how to ink and weave together books since their culture forbid such knowledge from being widespread to the general public. Nonetheless, what was written in the tomes was verbally integrated into social functions of every day life.

The codex ultimately replaced the scroll due to its unique and easy to follow formatting including the table of contents, the header, indices, page numbers, chapter titles, and all manner of navigational aids.

Ch. 4 -  Renaissance Design: Standardization and Modularization in Print (1450–1660)

The invention of the printing press and movable type had a big impact on European culture. For the first time, texts could be assembled and mass-produced. Prints not only became widespread, but also they became the basis of new and persuasive modes of communication. New markets for books came to be for banking and diplomacy.

Information was eagerly sought and became more and more accessible. Printed works advanced applied knowledge in many fields, especially in engineering. Development of mechanical devices fostered the printing of diagrams. As a result, improvements in the use of wind and water energy increased the capacity for milling. Parts in all sorts of machines and devices (like for guns, watches, clothes, and scientific instruments) became more precise.

Johann Gutenberg invented letterpress printing. It became the norm for printing text mid-15th century until the 19th century. The printing industry grew to support many specialized sub-industries and skills, such as typographic composition, ornamentation, engraving, binding, and paper-making.

Graphic representations took off in this period as well. They transmitted not only accurate images of plants, landscapes, animals, inventions, and routes. This brought visual communication into a new position of cultural prominence. Despite all the good things that came from it, it still had some backlash. Popular prints were circulated in as a way of shaping political opinion and starting controversy and perpetuating stereotypes about the church.

Overall, the invention of letterpress and image reproduction technologies helped advance the visual and typographic texts in Europe. Literacy rose drastically. Printed images and text expressed ideological values and reinforced cultural attitudes toward gender, identity, the power of the church, bodies, and scientific knowledge.

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Ch. 1 & 2

Marks were the beginning of identifying and distinguishing. They created a sense of opposition like “I” vs. “You” or “This” vs. “That.” The use marks advanced and were clumped to create images or pictographs.

There were three major eras in human history which influenced and were influenced by the use of clustering up marks. These were Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic. They were not chronological, instead they occurred differently based on geographical location.

- Paleolithic: Cro-Magrons (image above) were the first forms of image creation in 15000 - 10000 BCE in Spain. They weren’t necessarily for personal expression, instead they were used for social and ritual practices.

- Mesolithic: From about 10000 - 7000 BCE the appearances of porto-writing begin to emerge. It was most likely influenced by new forms of social organization.

- Neolithic: Around 8000 - 4000 BCE, pictographic signs begin to be used on tokens and tablets made of clay. There was a need for a counting system for trade in the Mesopotamian region.

Eventually around 4000 years ago the alphabet was developed in the Sinai region. Hieratic script and cuneiform were merged to create 20 symbols. This was the earliest form of the alphabet. Later different alphabets began to developed from this set. Letters like “a” looked like an ox to the Hebrew, this gave an image to remember the letter by and helped spread the language. 

In the Classical Period type became adapted to the writers need. There were two approaches to letter design. Gestures and expressive forms were used for personal needs, while ideal models and constructed forms were used for commercial, religious, or political purposes.

Majuscules (uppercase) were first to be developed and minuscules (lowercase) followed. Greeks added the 5 vowels to the alphabet which allowed language to be more flexible. This also improved education and increased literacy in Rome and Greece.

Tablets and scrolls were the most common forms of transportable media. Bound books began to show up in the 2nd and 4th century.

Current examples of Pictograms include the hazard signs of the nuclear power plants, while current Ideograms include the wheelchair access sign and the biohazard sign. The difference is that a pictograph uses a picture of an object and an ideogram uses a symbol made of geometric shapes to represent an idea.  As for logos, read the tag below.